MAYUGE- The US Ambassador, Mr Scott DeLisi, has said American citizens do not harbour any hatred or ill will towards Muslims.

“There is a fast growing population of Muslims in America of over seven million people and 1,500 mosques implying that rumours of hatred are not true,” Mr DeLisi said.

Mr DeLisi made the remarks in Mayuge District on Tuesday during the launch of the Uganda Muslim America Skill Friendship Training Centre, which is run and funded by the Muslim Centre for Justice and Law in partnership with American Embassy.

Strong ties

The diplomat also described as wrong a perception that ties between USA and Muslims are weak. He said the fact that USA has always supported development projects run by Muslims is testimony that America has strong ties with Muslim communities.

According to the President of the Muslim Centre for Justice and Law, Mr Jaffer Ssenganda, the facility helps to provide youth with free training in, among others, Information Communication Technology, catering, tailoring, crafts’ making and other practical survival skills.

The Mayuge Resident District Commissioner, Mr Badru Ssebyala, commended the directors of the centre for coming up with such programmes, saying they will contribute towards stabilising the country by fighting unemployment, which he said is usually a cause of unrest in most African nations.

I am worried that the so-called crime preventers who are (were) being trained at a police training school in Kabalye, Masindi may, in future, become the burden they are trying to untangle now.

In January, about 700 Makerere University students were trained as crime preventers at the same school. The criterion used to select these students is not elaborate and is exclusive to those who are either in the patriotic clubs or the youth league of the National Resistance Movement (NRM).

Several student groups have attended these courses at Kabalye. Another one of about 2,400 students from several universities and tertiary institution was passed out last week.

We are told the course content includes ideological orientation, self-defence, martial arts, and security skills, among others. I am not sure of how this programme is supposed to add value onto the lives of students, and Ugandans as a whole! Further, I don’t know whether the police budget should be diverted to this kind of exercise.

What exactly does a crime preventer do? Is he/she a security operative who gathers information on certain offenders and then confront them? Is this a voluntary exercise or it is a paid- for, job? If so, it, therefore, calls for certain regulations, obligations and responsibilities.

Is this an auxiliary group to the security organs? Are these students specifically trained to prevent crimes in universities or in the entire country? Sometimes, armed people commit crimes. So, will the crime preventer be armed in order to counter any armed attack? It is not clear whether all the national tertiary institutions will be equipped with crime preventers. Once, the dubious Kiboko squad described itself as crime preventers.

So, should Ugandans worry that another dodgy group is being prepared, perhaps for the expected intense political activity in 2016?

What is the relationship between these crime preventers and the police, army, and other security agencies in the country? Many of these questions still remain unanswered. Inspector General of Police Kale Kayihura says the course is good because it has equipped the young people with ideological direction.

The Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary defines ideology as a system of ideas and ideals, especially one that forms the basis of economic or political theory and policy. It further defines it as the ideas and manner of thinking characteristic of a group, social class, or individual. So, if the course is supposed to orientate the students in ideology, in whose ideology are they inculcated? Who determines the correct ideology, and anyway, what ideology was being marketed to these students?

Again, there is a trend that one cannot be a complete cadre or patriot without being equipped with military skills. Everything in Uganda is being militarised. Agriculture has to be run by the military. The police have to be steered by a military man. The immigration and national identification process has to be conducted by the military. A military man runs the highest office in the land.

Ruling party MPs have to conduct their annual retreat in a semi-military camp. Early this year, they (MPs) were all clad in attires that resembled military uniforms! Even the beauty contest is a candidate for military takeover! At their pass-out, the youths gleefully displayed their skills of dismantling and assembling guns. Others performed martial art drills.

Some of these youths are, actually, mere opportunists. They are using this training as a pedestal to clutch on better things in future. Many of them have realised that keeping closer to the party means instant wealth. They have seen how those youths who originally backed Amama Mbabazi for president, but later crossed to President Museveni’s camp, have become instant millionaires.

They know that when time comes for recruiting mobilisers for votes in 2016, priority will be given to those who trained at Kabalye. Instant, and sometimes unexplained, wealth has become the major motivation of joining NRM programmes. I don’t know the exact ideological direction of the NRM. Even if one asked these youths what NRM’s ideology is, the likelihood is that the answer would not be given. And if it is given, the one who asks the question would remain uninformed.

This exercise in Kabalye is as inoperable as the youth representation in Parliament. The lives of the youth in Uganda have not improved as a consequence of being represented in Parliament. I have not seen bills being sponsored by youth MPs, specifically targeting issues that youths grapple with.

The irony is that the very youths who have trained in crime prevention may be the harbingers of crime. There is a temptation to look at crime as mainly a physical thing such as murder, treason, theft and rape. We forget that there is an unemployed youth likely to engage in forgery in order to access someone else’s account in the bank.

And more threatening is the fact that honesty is no longer something taken seriously, as the strength of youths. So, the economic pressures, which Kabalye never addressed, may turn these cadres of crime prevention into victims of the very mischief they intended to cure. It would be stretching the restraint of a hungry hyena to entrust it with the servicing of a loaded butchery.

The captured Lord's Resistance (LRA) commander, Dominic Ongwen, revealed to the African Union contingency in the Central Republic of Africa (CAR) that he is lucky to be alive, according to army spokesperson, Lt. Col. Paddy Ankunda.

Ankunda has told New Vision that Ongwen looks psychologically settled for being in safe hands now and assured of justice at the International Criminal Court (ICC).

"The man has been in the bush for most of his life fighting and eating rats but now he is in our (UPDF) custody eating chicken. He is happy that he will get justice at the ICC," said Ankunda when asked about Ongwen's situation.

"What we are waiting for now is for the CAR government to hand him over to the ICC. When they (CAR Government) ready, they will let us (UPDF) know," added Ankunda.

Ongwen was handed to the AU contingency in CAR by the US Special Forces on Wednesday and he was received by UPDF CAR contingent commander, Col .Michael Kabango, at Obo.

In the picture taken with Kabango, Ongwen is seen in a jolly mood, not reminiscent of a man who has been through thick and thin of Africa's jungles fighting for most of his life.

Kasibante

Member of Parliament on tension over Beti Kamya's return for the 2016 national election:

Rubaga North MP Moses Kasibante.

By Monitor Reporter

Posted Tuesday, January 27 2015

Uganda Federal Alliance (UFA) leader Beti Kamya is plotting to return to Parliament in 2016. Political Xtra understands that Ms Kamya, who is also the former Rubaga North MP, took the decision after her supporters reportedly advised her against “chasing shadows”.

They reportedly told her to admit that she miscalculated when she took the decision to contest for the highest office and asked her not to waste time again. Ms Kamya was a contestant in the 2011 Ugandan presidential elections.

However, Ms Kamya, who accepted to contest for Parliament next year, is said to have told her supporters that she participated in the 2011 elections not to win but to launch the federal ideology outside Buganda; she calls it ‘Ugandanisation’ of federo.

Apparently, Ms Kamya’s return has taken current Rubaga North MP Moses Kasibante by surprise since he thought the former FDC strong lady would contest for presidency again.

‘Sleepless nights’

Sources close to Mr Kasibante told Political Extra that the UFA leader is giving him sleepless nights. The MP nowadays frequents his constituency and quietly meets voters in order to galvanise his support and has reportedly vowed to give Ms Kamya “a bloody nose” in next year’s parliamentary contest.

Following the 2011 elections, the former journalist with the help of Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago and other Opposition sympathisers went to court, challenging NRM candidate Singh Katongole’s disputed win. Mr Katongole, who won the seat through a disputed re-counting process, was ejected by court, allowing Mr Kasibante to reclaim what belonged to him. But it appears what belonged to Mr Kasibante, once belonged to Ms Kamya and she is determined to have it back.

The US Ambassador to Uganda Scott DeLisi last week expressed disapproval of the awarding of $4b (about Shs11.5 trillion) oil refinery project to the subsidiary of a Russian state conglomerate that also deals in arms and whose chief executive is under heavy US and EU sanctions. He warned that this venture is “not a done deal.”

“On the issue of the sanctions, these are issues I am sure the government will have to look at carefully. They have designated a Russian company as the first on the list, absolutely, but they still have to negotiate a variety of issues that will go to financing and the rest. I would suggest that you wait and see how that all plays out,”

DeLisi was speaking during a 45-minute interface with selected journalists at the US embassy in Nsambya, Kampala, on Wednesday.

“They [problems] maybe because of the sanctions imposed upon the parent company.

“There may be problems in terms of financing, inability to operate but we will see how all that plays out,” he added.

Last week, the Uganda government awarded the contract for the refinery project to RT Global Resources, a consortium managed by Russia’s Rostec, a defence and technology corporation whose businesses include manufacturing and selling weapons such as the AK-47/Kalashnikov rifles.

In 2013, the government started the search process for a lead investor to undertake construction of the 60,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) oil refinery. About 75 companies picked the Request for Qualification documents and only eight made it to the last submission round. Later, four companies pulled out for diverse reasons.

The four that reached the last round included, RT Global Resources, Japan’s Maruben Corporation, China’s Petroleum Pipeline Bureau (CPPB), and the South Korean SK Group.

Mr Sergei Chemezov, Rostec’s chief executive, is a former officer in the Russian spy agency KGB and close ally of President Vladimir Putin. He has US sanctions on him, which include freezing his assets and barring US companies from dealing with him since 2014.

The sanctions are in response to Russia’s annexation and military adventures in Ukraine.

“It is not my job to tell the government of Uganda with whom they can engage but it is my job to share with the government the US policy, its concerns if there is any and to define the nature of our partnership. So that is what we focus on, but I wish them well even in other dealings but we will see how that all plays out,” said Ambassador Mr DeLisi

The refinery project manager Robert Kasande told Sunday Monitor that they are cognizant of the sanctions against Sergei Chemezov but added that these are issues he cannot comment about or are rather beyond him.

He however revealed that they finalised the issues of financing with the Russian company.

President Museveni has in the recent past scolded Western countries for what he called arrogance, and said China and Russia were available as alternatives because they do not meddle in internal politics of other countries.

The Electoral Commis

sion begs the media not to incite violence as the 2016 National elections approach

By Fred Muzaale

Posted Thursday, April 2 2015

Luweero in the State of Buganda, Uganda.

The Electoral Commission (EC) chairman, Mr Badru Kiggundu, has cautioned the media to desist from reporting sensational and unbalanced stories that can instigate violence.

In a speech read for him by the EC director of finance and administration, Ms Jovita Byamugisha, during a regional media workshop on the 2016 general elections, in Luweero Town on Monday, Mr Kiggundu said the media should promote peaceful campaigns and support conflict prevention.

“You should study the road map and internalise its content so that you are able to follow the progress and report from a point of knowledge,” the EC boss said.

Study the road map

He added that journalists should acquaint themselves with the EC’s road map for the various electoral activities so that they report from an informed point of view.

The workshop was attended by journalists from Kayunga, Mityana, Luweero, Nakaseke and Kiboga districts.

The EC senior public relations officer, Mr Paul Bukenya, said the 2016 general election will not be free and fair if it does not receive a free and fair media coverage.

fmuzaale@ug.

nationmedia.com

Lyantonde health workers strike over 5-month delayed salary

Written by URN

Created: 24 December 2015

Health workers at Lyatonde Hospital have gone on strike protesting nonpayment of salaries for five months now.

The strike has left hundreds of patients stranded without any assistance. The most affected departments include; surgery, children's, maternity and causality wards.

The health workers are demanding for at least a package to take them through the Christmas season if their salaries of five months are to delay further.

The strike began this morning after receiving communication from Christopher Okumu the Chief Administrative Officer that their accounts would be credited after Christmas or in January 2016.

Stranded patients at Lyantonde hospital

Led by the hospital Medical Superintendent Dr Billy Ssebunya, the health workers stormed the CAO's office after receiving the communication but found it locked.

As a result, they stormed RDC Sulaiman Tiguragara Matojo's office seeking an explanation. Matojo held a closed door meeting with the aggrieved health workers but the meeting did not yielded any positive results.

The health workers stormed out in protest accusing Matojo of being incompetent in managing the affairs of the district including issues of health workers.

Dr Ssebunya says his staff has often complained about the lack of payment and have lost the morale to attend to the patients.

According to Ssebunya the CAO earlier claimed that a cheque was banked in November this year and that all their accounts were to be credited but that has not happened.

When contacted, Okumu said that his office was handling the matter and the workers would get their salary by the first week of January. He however could not explain the delay.

The Uganda Revenue Authority has decided to write off Shs 400bn in govt tax arrears because the NRM government can never pay up its debts of 32 years in power:

April 6, 2018

Written by URN

Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) has said it will write off Shs 417 billion in tax arrears owed by government as bad debts.

This was revealed by the commissioner general, Doris Akol, who was on Thursday presented URA's budget estimates for the financial year 2018/2019 before the finance committee of parliament. Akol said the money had accumulated over a long period of time.

URA commissioner general Doris Akol

Akol said URA registered a 14.85% decline in government payments. She appealed to the ministry of Finance to have the figure of Shs 400 billion taken away from their revenue collection target, saying government has failed to pay this money.

Akol said this makes it appear like URA has a big revenue shortfall. She says URA has been stopped from collecting tax from some entities like Uganda Telecom (Utl), over fears that the telecom company could collapse.

"We have arrears which we have been trying to collect but government has told us, if you collect this tax, the telecom will go down," Akol says.

Early this year, President Museveni ordered government not to recover Shs 200 billion of Utl's debts. He instead ordered that the debts be converted into shares for the government.

On last year's performance, Akol said the net revenue collected is Shs 6 trillion, which puts the tax authority at a performance of up to 95.12%.

Last year, the tax body recovered Shs 131 billion in debts, and also registered an increase in the taxpayer register which according to Akol, grew by 169,237 tax payers. Akol says this represents a 16% growth in registration with a total of so far 1,196,994 tax payers registered.

Rubanda East MP Henry Musaasizi, lashed out at the government for making unrealistic tax decisions like exemptions which have affected revenue collection. He said that some policies by the government made it hard for URA to generate enough revenue to support the country's small budget.

David Bahati, the state minister of Finance for Planning, told MPs that the ministry was supportive of URA saying that some exemptions were meant to ensure more investments into the country, but also helping out in times of crisis.

URA projects to collect Shs 16 trillion next financial year. Of this, the tax revenue is Shs 15 billion and non-tax revenue will be Shs 420 billion. The tax body has been allocated Shs 331 billion for next financial year compared to this financial year when it was allocated Shs 390 billion. URA has a funding gap of Shs 100 billion.

Nb

Indeed this is the sort of President Julius Nyerere's economic academic brands(African socialism) that was always taught in the University of Tanzania in the 1950/60s. The same aspect was being taught in Israel!

One of the many hydro-electric dams Uganda and China are building on the Equator without any care for a mass Solar Energy Project for the poor Africans to afford.

The Extravagant President of Uganda cannot easily stop the wastages he has built up all over the country:

August 30, 2017

Written by Ssemujju Ibrahim Nganda

Our revolutionary ruler, Gen Yoweri Museveni, has proposed three significant policy reversals in the last couple of days.

First, he wrote to parliament stopping processing of 10 requests by his government to borrow money. He then proposed merging and closure of some of the parastatals, commissions and state agencies. Third, he wants unnecessary travels abroad reduced.

Because of the many bad things that he routinely does, Museveni makes it difficult for anyone sensible to thank him for a one-off good thing.

But as someone who has written and spoken against wastage of taxpayers’ money, let me welcome this stunt, if for not anything else, at least for its face value.

In a March 2016 report on public debt, the ministry of Finance revealed that we had, as of December 2015, borrowed $9.67 billion both from foreign and domestic sources. This is more than one-third of our reported $27 billion GDP.

I have not looked at the March 2017 report on loans. I think we must be approaching half our GDP, beyond which the debt will become unsustainable. And I am quoting official figures.

Therefore, any proposal to scale down on borrowing, even if it is for cosmetic reasons, is welcome. Mind you, it is ordinary Ugandans who will repay these loans when the revolutionary is long gone.

Having failed on many core issues such as health, education, accountability and good governance, Mr Museveni wants to shield his incompetence with mainly roads and electricity.

We have advised this government to scale down on borrowing to no avail. Look, we currently produce 862MW of electricity and we consume just about 600MW at peak hours. This means we have a surplus. But we have borrowed nearly Shs 3 trillion from China to build Karuma and Ayago dams.

Granted, we need to plan for the future, but in a planned and sequenced manner. Already, we are paying nearly Shs 60 billion for the surplus energy that we are not using. Investors are charging us for electricity produced and not consumed.

Wait when the Chinese begin charging us for the nearly 800MW to be generated by the new dams. Why, for example, didn’t we borrow to build Ayago and then, seven years later, borrow to build Karuma or build it using money from our oil?

We have borrowed for all sorts of things including smaller amounts to build education centres of excellence and establishment of a model farming village in Karamoja. These are things we should finance using locally-raised revenue.

Museveni told us during the budget reading that our debt is sustainable. He now wants us to stop useless borrowing. Let us look at travels.

Last financial year, Uganda spent Shs 111.8 billion on travels abroad (tickets and per diem) and Shs 240.8 billion on travels within the country. Under State House and the President’s Office, travel abroad amounted to nearly Shs 40 billion.

We spent Shs 104 billion on workshops and seminars. We spent Shs 150 billion on fuel, Shs 99 billion on vehicle repairs and Shs 184 billion on replacing vehicles that had aged.

That is why I proposed a zero-fleet policy like it was in Rwanda at one time and I am still waiting for an opportunity to present my motion in parliament.

The gist of my proposal was that besides the president, vice president, speaker of parliament, deputy speaker, leader of opposition, chief justice and deputy chief justice, the rest of public servants should be given loans to buy tax-free vehicles of their choice. The money should be recovered from their allowances and salaries.

If adopted, we will not spend the billions on fuel, drivers, repairs and purchases. I hope I will be allowed to present this proposal at one stage.

In Tanzania, it has worked. There was a time we travelled to Rwanda for the East African parliament’s sports gala and Tanzania didn’t show up. Reason, their new president, John Pombe Magufuli, had said there was no money for leisurely travels.

I understand Magufuli even halted celebrations to mark the country’s independence, preferring to use the money to construct a road in Dar es Salaam. This is what is called acting by example.

In the case of Uganda, Mr Museveni, who is fighting useless expenditure, still employs 1,600 staff at his residence and in his office. The number of presidential advisors – by the way these are idle people – is now at 141. There is even an advisor on Kigezi diocese! Really!

Each year, Mr Museveni allocates himself about Shs 90 billion for donation, which is the reason these days he is randomly stopping at every roadside market or workshop to donate to vendors.

It is a very good idea to merge parastatals, but it will change nothing if the big man continues creating districts, municipalities, ministries, etc.

On page 68 of its August 2016 report, the Electoral Commission reveals that the country now has 2,286,158 elective offices to fill.

These elections cost money, but the offices need more money to run. But because many of these offices are filled by Museveni supporters and they help him stay in power, he is speaking only against parastatals.

Merging parastatals and reducing on borrowing and travels abroad are too good proposals, but they can’t mean anything under Museveni’s extravagant leadership.

The author is Kira Municipality MP and spokesperson of the Forum for Democratic Change.

The Uganda Parliament wants an inquiry into the sale of 130 public companies by the NRM government of 30 years rule:

There is the 1960s old building of the Uganda Commercial Bank that is an eyesore for the

Uganda tax payer!

The sale of UCB in the early 1990s to Stanbic Bank was and continues to generate debate to-date.

File photo

By Yasiin Mugerwa

Posted Wednesday, March 9 2016

UGANDA, Kampala. Parliament is expected in the next few days to open a probe into allegations of corruption and collusion in the sale of more than 130 public assets under the controversy-ridden privatisation policy. The inquiry seeks to establish whether there was undue political interference and other forms of manipulation in the privatisation process. The probe committee will, among other things, track the sale and expenditure of billions of Shillings that accrued from the divesture of public companies.

The decision to investigate the dealings of the Privatisation Unit was mooted during the consideration of a new Bill that seeks to revive Uganda Development Corporation (UDC). UDC will be an investment agency on behalf of government in partnership with the private sector to promote and facilitate industrial and economic development. Government in the 1990s implemented the divestiture policy, as part of a wider World Bank’s economic reforms and recovery programme. The objective was to reduce the direct role of government participation in the economy and develop a greater role for the private sector.

Some MPs attempted to block the passing of the UDC Bill last week, but Speaker Rebecca Kadaga guided that the new law be passed and a select committee on privatisation instituted tomorrow to dig up the details.MPs had demanded full information on public assets formerly placed under Uganda Development Company. A list of the assets and companies tabled before Parliament by Mr Michael Werikhe, the State minister for Industry, shows that more than 130 properties were sold to undisclosed Ugandans and foreigners.

Establishing status However, MPs led by Opposition Chief Whip, Ms Cecilia Ogwal and Mr Eddie Kwizera of Bufumbira East demanded latest (ownership) information and the (sale) values for each of the 134 companies.“We want to revive UDC but how much did we get from the sale of all these assets? Where is the money? What is the status?” Ms Ogwal said.However, Mr Werikhe said people from the Finance ministry would “give us this information because they are the ones who know what happened”. Mr Jim Mugunga, the Ministry of Finance spokesperson, said they had nothing to hide as “we have made disclosures to the Auditor General and those who bought public assets are known. If they want to know what happened the report is in Parliament”.

The inquiry, confirmed by the Parliament director of communications and public affairs, Mr Chris Obore, is expected to focus on the disputed sale of public enterprises such as Entebbe Handling Services, Uganda Commercial Bank, Uganda Grain Millers, Hima Cement, Nile Hotel, Apollo Hotel, Uganda Air Cargo and Steel Corporation of East Africa, among others.Although most of the MPs have backed the planned inquiry, some have expressed fears that the current Parliament is unlikely to complete the probe of this stature, since its five-year term ends in May.

However, the unfinished work of the 9th Parliament can be re-introduced in the 10th Parliament by a resolution.If Parliament votes to institute the select committee tomorrow, it will not be the first time the House is investigating allegations of corruption in the privatisation deals. The late Tom Aisu Omongole (Kumi), in the 6th Parliament led a similar inquiry that investigated the fraud in the sale of Uganda Commercial Bank and other privatisation deals. The 60-page report claimed that four ministers and one senior official had “derailed” the exercise.

The 1998 report uncovered the rot in the divestiture process and named Mr Sam Kutusa, Gen Salim Saleh, Mr Mathew Rukikaire, Mr John Nasasira, Mr Mayanja Nkangi and other government officials have also meddled in the sale of these public companies. The ministers, however, denied the accusations but the report led to the resignation of Mr Rukikaire as State minister for Privatisation at the time because of his handling of the divestiture of (Apollo Hotel) now Sheraton Kampala Hotel and UCB.

Nb:

Surely a modern Commercial Bank cannot function in such a single outdated building any more. What of its branches that need to spread out throughout this country of 2016?

Some of the sold Assets are as follows:

1. Uganda Commercial Bank (UCB)

2. Stanbic Bank (U) Ltd

3. Uganda Telecom

4. Bank of Baroda

5. Uganda Telecom

6. UGM Co 7. Total (U) Ltd

8. Agricultural Enterprises Ltd

9. NEC Pharmaceuticals Ltd

10. Uganda Fisheries Enterprises

11. Uganda Industrial Machinery

12. Associated Match Company

13. Uganda Libyan Arab Holdings

14. Steel Corporation of EA Ltd

15. Rwenzori Highland Tea Co

16. Cable Corporation 17. DFU Bank

18. New Vision P&P (20%)

19. Uganda Clays Ltd

20. Dairy Corporation Ltd

21. National Insurance Company

22. Mweya Safari Lodge

23. Nile Hotel International Ltd

24. Sugar Corporation of Uganda Ltd

25. Second National Operator

26. Uganda Railway Corporation

27. Uganda Electricity Distribution Co

28. Uganda Electricity Generation

29. Uganda Seeds (Kasese)

30. Uganda Seeds (Masindi)

31. ULI Ltd- Kiryana Ranch

32. ULI Ltd-Kyempisi Ranch

33. Foods and Beverages Ltd

34. Fresh Foods Lts

35. Republic Motors

36. Winits (U) Ltd

37. Govt Central Purchasing Corp

38. Printpak (U) Ltd

39.Uganda Hardware Ltd

40. Uganda Motors

41. NH&CC 42. Shell (U) Ltd

43. Nile Breweries Ltd

44. Uganda American Insurance Co

45. Uganda Crane Estates

46. Uganda Securiko Ltd

47. Uganda Tea Corporation

48. Kampala Auto Centre Gomba M

49. Transocean 1998 (U) Ltd

50. Barclays Bank of Uganda Ltd

51. BAT Uganda 52. ENHAS

53. Kakira Sugar Works

54. Uganda Spinning Mills, Lira

55. Agip (U) Ltd 56. White Rhino Hotel

57. White Horse Inn

58. Comrade Cycles (U) Ltd

59. Lango Development Corp

60. Uganda Meat Packers (Kampala)

61. Uganda Leather and Tanning Ind.

62. Uganda Meat packers (Soroti)

63. African Textile Mills

64. TUMPECO 65. SAIMM CO

66. Apollo Hotel Corporation Ltd

67. Blenders (U) Ltd

68. East African Distilleries

69. Acholi Inn

70. Kibimba Rice Co Ltd

71. Lake Victoria Bottling Co Ltd

72. Kinyara Sugar Works Ltd

73. Lango Development Co

74. Motocraft and Sales Ltd

75. NIC Ltd 76. African Ceramics Co

77. Hilltop Hotel

78. Hotel Margherita

79. ITV Sales

80. Lira Hotel

81. Masindi Hotel

82. Mt Elgon Hotel

83. Mt Moroto Hotel

84. NYTIL Textile Industries

85. Rock Hotel

86. Uganda Cement Ind- Hima

87. Uganda Cement Ind-Tororo

88. Soroti Hotel

89. Uganda Consolidated Properties

90. Uganda Garment Industries

Nelson Mandela: The USA CIA tip-off led to 1962 Durban arrest:

Nelson Mandela died in 2013 at the age of 95

Nelson Mandela's arrest in 1962 came as a result of a tip-off from an agent of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), a report says.

The revelations, made in the Sunday Times newspaper, are based on an interview with ex-CIA agent Donald Rickard shortly before he died.

Mandela served 27 years in jail for resisting white minority rule before being released in 1990.

He was subsequently elected as South Africa's first black president.

Rickard, who died earlier this year, was never formally associated with the CIA but worked as a diplomat in South Africa before retiring in the late 70s.

The interview was conducted by British film director John Irvin, who has made a film, Mandela's Gun, about his brief career as an armed rebel, the Sunday Times said.

The events leading up the the arrest of Nelson Mandela, on a dark night near Durban in 1962, have always been murky. In the era of Cold War politics, Mandela, then leader of the armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC), was considered a terrorist and a threat to the West.

As Mr Rickard put it, he was "the most dangerous communist" outside of the Soviet Union, although Mandela always denied being a member of the party.

Rumours have circulated for years that the CIA trailed Mandela but the agency resisted previous attempts to shine a light on its alleged involvement in his arrest. Rickard's admission will bring renewed pressure to declassify documents from the time.

The ANC's spokesman Zizi Kodwa said he believed the CIA was still meddling in South African affairs and collaborating with those wanting "regime change".

The future president led the armed resistance movement of the banned ANC, and was one of the most wanted men in South Africa at the time of his arrest.

He was posing as a chauffeur when his car was stopped at a roadblock by the police in the eastern city of Durban in 1962 and he was detained.

"I found out when he was coming down and how he was coming... that's where I was involved and that's where Mandela was caught," Rickard is quoted as saying.

Image copyrightNATIONAL ARCHIVES OF SOUTH AFRICAImage captionA fake passport in the name of David Motsamayi used by Mr Mandela

ANC national spokesperson Zizi Kodwa said: "That revelation confirms what we have always known, that they are working against [us], even today.

"It's not thumb sucked, it's not a conspiracy [theory]. It is now confirmed that it did not only start now, there is a pattern in history."

Mandela, president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, was on a US terror watch list until 2008.

Before that, along with other former ANC leaders, he was only able to visit the US with special permission from the secretary of state, because the ANC had been designated a terrorist organisation by the former apartheid government.

Image copyrightGETTY IMAGESImage captionMr Mandela needed special permission to enter the US until 2008

The bill scrapping the designation was introduced by Howard Berman, chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, who promised to "wipe away" the

"indignity".

President Ronald Reagan had originally placed the ANC on the list in the 1980s.

The Head of the Uganda Tax Body

The Uganda Revenue Authoritiy is struggling to administer a well balanced tax system on the continent of Africa.

Uganda’s ratio of taxes to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has remained almost stagnant for 19 years. In 1997, it was 11%. Since then it has risen to 13.7% only to fall back to 12%. This is in spite of the fact that over this period, monetary GDP has increased from 76% to 94% and taxable GPD from 52% to 81% today. Last financial year, the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) collected Shs 11.3 trillion in taxes against a GDP of Shs 86 trillion as per June 30th. This means that the tax to GDP ratio is now 12%.

I suspect URA collects about 67% of taxes due. I am aware that as a poor country with a low industrial base, Uganda’s economy is dominated by multitudes of small family businesses that are difficult to tax. Yet I still think that with prudent tax laws and administration URA can collect about 18% of GDP in taxes i.e. an extra Shs 4.2 trillion.

In 1970, the tax to GDP ratio in Uganda was 22%. This was in large part because government was taxing especially agricultural exports. Today Uganda exempts all agriculture from taxation. Even large scale ranchers like President Yoweri Museveni with 21 square miles of land and 5,000 heads of cattle making about Shs500 million as monthly income are exempt. Yet in spite of this, agricultural growth in Uganda has been the most sluggish, averaging about 2.9% per year over the last 20 years. But this article is about improving tax administration not broadening the tax base.

There is no incentive to reform URA’s tax collection methods because both businessmen and URA officials benefit from it through corruption.

I know many business persons in Uganda doing import and export trade (corporation tax), real estate and other informal trades that make a lot of money but don’t pay any taxes at all. Indeed, the biggest mistake for a business in Uganda is to be compliant and honest like this newspaper has done for the last nine years. If a business has a tax dispute with URA, its officials have no incentive to resolve it.

For example, The Independent got into a minor tax dispute with URA in 2012. URA has conducted four audits without resolving the matter. Every friend has told me to bribe URA officials to end this dispute. I have refused because we have been totally compliant. Instead of getting acknowledgement, URA officials have spent four years looking for a fault. Why would URA spend so much of its time on a company that is largely compliant when it is saddled with tens of thousands who are not? It will become obvious later on.

For now, like many things in poor countries, the tax law in Uganda is copied and pasted from “best practice” in the developed nations of Western Europe and North America. It does not reflect the unique features of our reality. For example most businesses in Uganda begin as informal trades that grow with time. At a certain size they need to go formal so that they can scale and even tender for big government contracts or borrow from banks, all of which requires a tax compliance certificate from URA.

The main challenge facing URA is how to make such businesses find it easy to become compliant. Part of doing this means opening their books to URA for the last five years. This makes them vulnerable to huge tax arrears and penalties, enough to bankrupt them. The choice is to remain small (which many do) or bribe URA officials to reduce the tax liability. In short, URA has created an incentive structure where one is penalised for being compliant and another is rewarded for avoiding it or for paying a bribe.

Many business people keep their transactions informal in order to avoid the adverse impact of taxes on their businesses.

One reason for poor compliance is that URA does not have the resources to send teams to register every business or income stream. However, the major reason is that URA officials are lazy and corrupt. They are lazy because they are not keen to go and establish the different streams of income from which to generate more taxes. They are corrupt because they profit individually from noncompliance.

In my many unhappy encounters with URA officials, I have pleaded with them to be vanguards of change. I ask them to inform their superiors that the tax law as designed is the biggest impediment to tax compliance. My pleas fall on deaf ears. I have asked business people to use the different associations to lobby for tax reform and my efforts have yielded only derision and disinterest. Then my mind’s eyes opened to me something subtle – corruption. Only two (a lady and gentleman) who came to my office last week exhibited a keen interest in how to make many people compliant.

Many business people keep their transactions informal in order to avoid the adverse impact of taxes on their businesses. This is because URA officials visit these businesses to audit them in order to collect government taxes. Looking strictly at the law, the interests of the business people and URA officials are in conflict. Yet at the level of unofficial practice, they are actually consonant especially given the structure of incentives Uganda’s tax law engenders. I realised that this conflict between the taxpayer and the tax collector is resolved to their mutual benefit through corruption.

URA officials can show up and audit a business and issue the owner a huge tax bill – say of Shs5.6 billion on tax arrears for five years including fines and compound interest. Terrified that such a bill would bankrupt his or her company, the business person will offer to pay a bribe of Shs300 million to URA officials if they can cut down the bill to Shs1.2 billion. Thus the law offers both taxpayer and tax collector joint gains through corruption. The businessperson saves Shs 4.1 billion in taxes and URA officials pocket Shs300 million.

Over time, dealing with both URA and business persons, I have learnt the consequences of this collusion. The obvious one is that government loses tax revenue in such deals, a factor that limits its ability to serve its citizens. But the more subtle and even dangerous consequence is to URA as a government institution and to the business community as vanguards of tax reform.

Bribes demobilise business people from organising collectively to pursue tax reform. Instead business persons find it cheaper and more convenient to bribe URA officials. Government secures the acquiescence of individual business persons for tax laws that are collectively harmful to business generally. And for URA officials, bad tax law allows them to line their pockets. Within Uganda’s polity, hardly anyone has an incentive to reform the system.